


The Price of Honesty

by Lorz



Category: The Hobbit - All Media Types
Genre: F/F, F/M, M/M, Threats of Rape/Non-Con
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-08-22
Updated: 2019-01-23
Packaged: 2019-06-30 22:52:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,698
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15761364
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lorz/pseuds/Lorz
Summary: Flel's mother has always kept her a secret. She was hers to protect. Flel never understood why her mother would hide her. Her father was a good dwarf, and now he is King Under the Mountain. She has dreamed of the day she meets him, and the day she can publicly declare her Adad.However tradition has different ideas. And Flel is about to learn the price of honesty is sometimes too high to pay.AU, everyone lives. Erebor is reclaimed, and more dwarves move to help with the rebuild each day.





	1. Prologue

Flel had dreamed of the day she would first set eyes on her father. The stories she had heard painted him as a great leader, ferocious warrior, and above all a dwarf who protected his people with his life. She had heard tales of a short yet impressive beard adorned with beads and braids to signify his loyalty, love, achievements and promises. 

 

Her Amad had always spoke of him with reverence. Flel had always struggled to understand why her Amad had kept Flel’s existence a secret if he was truly a dwarf to be respected, and it was not until she traveled to Erebor on the second caravan to leave Ered Luin that she understood. To outsiders, she appeared to be yet another male dwarf travelling, but the dwarves accompanying the caravan knew of her gender. They also knew of her status as a mother-daughter, and her mother’s employment in one of the brothels in Ered Luin. 

 

Flel had never been ashamed of her Amad or her profession, but the dwarves travelling with her believed she should be. They also seemed to believe that what her Amad had sold, they could take for free. They had jested that she was more than likely a dwarven noble’s shame. A consequence of a night that was intended to end in nothing but pleasure and the exchange of coin. And so they tried to take what they believed in be their right. 

 

She had disavowed them of their notions with but a few blows, and they did not touch her again. However Flel learned from their actions. She finally understood her Amad’s secrecy. They had wanted her to pretend for a night, to make themselves believe a noble’s daughter had chosen them, even if she was a bastard. They had leered, and snarled that after they had taken their turn, they could even sell her for a pretty coin and earn themselves some money. 

 

If they were willing to abuse her a fantasy, for a chance that she was the bastard daughter of a noble, what would they do if they had confirmation she was a noble’s daughter? What price could they get for a bastard woman whose father was Thorin II,  **son**  of Thráin,  **son**  of Thrór , King under the Mountain? 

 

 

When their caravan eventually reached Erebor, the King greeted them. Flel lowered her eyes so that she would not see him, and vowed she would keep her mother’s secret.  **Her secret.**


	2. Looking

He was looking at her. Flel kept her eyes to the floor in order to try and conceal the panic that had erupted the moment his eyes had landed on her, and tried to calm her breathing. For six months she had worked in Erebor, and helped repair the kingdom she had grown up being told was her true home, and the King hadn’t noticed her once. The dwarves that had threatened her on the long trip from Ered Luin had eventually come to the realisation she would never bow to their threats, and her life had been relatively peaceful aside for weeks.

 

For the first few weeks of her arrival, the King had constantly been visiting workers in order to thank them for their service, and she had held her breath everytime King Thorin had visited her forge in case she drew attention to herself, but she had avoided attention. Now though, he was back from negotiating trade deals and in her forge, and he was _looking at her._

 

Unsure of what to do, Flel continued to stare at the slab in front of her, and prayed he would stop looking at her. As usual though, her prayers weren’t answered, and she was no longer staring at a slab, but at the feet of the King. Taking a deep breath, Flel raised her head and quietly uttered the words “Your Majesty”.

 

And then of course she was looking at him, and couldn’t say anything more. Her Amad had certainly not been lying when she spoke of how her Adad – the King, not her Adad looked. His beard was impressive, a dark black peppered with bits of grey, and filled with braids that spoke of his bravery, his love for his family and kingdom, and his loyalty to the quest to return their people to Erebor. His eyes - Aulë,his eyes looked like they could see into her very soul and unearth every secret she had ever kept! His body clearly showed his physical strength, and his body language was truly that of a King. All it would take was one question and she felt like she would tell him anything he asked, and that was a very dangerous thing indeed.

 

“Are you well?”

 

Blinking, Flel stared at him in confusion. Why was he asking if she was well? Why did a King care if she was well? Oh Aule, did she look sick? Perhaps he thought she shouldn’t be working in the forge? She had dealt with many of the male dwarves implying she shouldn’t be, especially if they believed her to be bleeding,and was used to their jokes of her being unwell, but for the King to ask her was... it was insulting!

 

“Very, your Majesty. I would not endanger the reparation of the kingdom if I was not.”, she stated firmly, with conviction, though on the inside she quivered. If he thought her to be obstinate, it would destroy the relatively quiet life she had created in Erebor while she awaited the arrival of her Amad’s caravan.

 

To her relief, he smiled. A small smile, but still, a smile. Not pissing off the King of Erebor was always something to celebrate, especially when you had secrets as large as Flel’s secrets to keep hidden. Then lowering his head slightly, Thorin quietly and kindly seemed to start an explanation of why she had caught his attention.

 

“A treasured friend told me you assisted them with a problem several days ago. I would like to speak to you further in private if you would allow your Kind a few moments to speak with you. You may bring a... companion if you feel this would be unfavourable to your reputation.”

 

Shocked, Flel floundered for a moment between panic that he wanted to speak to her further, worry over what friend she had assisted, and why they would mention this to the King, of all people and annoyance that she was being offered a companion to accompany her. The King was never alone, it wasn’t as though she could harm him, so it was obvious that he believed the men she worked with would easily believe that she would be willing to be inappropriate with the King.

 

Of course – it would only be inappropriate for her, she was the woman in this situation. It was a good thing that she had been raised by her Amad who had quickly taught her that the only opinion that mattered was hers, and that dwarf society was ancient in many of its ways, including it’s attitude to how a woman should conduct herself. Against her better judgement, she heard herself speak, and winced at her own words.

 

“Of course, my King. You can make requests as you wish, you are the King are you not? I do not require a companion, I’m sure my word is as valued as any others in this room, and I would dare to say the only view of my reputation that matters is my own. “

 

Thorin’s eyes widened, and his small smile (which Flel had absolutely not dreamt of being directed towards her) disappeared. He nodded and his guard (Dwalin, if she remembered correctly) hide a smile behind his hand before directing her employer Tren to pay her wages for the remainder of the day and guiding her to follow Thorin out of the room. The last thing Flel heard before the door closed was Tren talking Dwalin for his assurances that the crown would reimburse him for the loss of one of his workers for the remainder of the day.

 

_The remainder of the day._ It was only halfway through her shift. How long did the King intend to “speak” to her for? Flel’s thoughts were impossible to ignore as she walked behind the King to his private quarters (and wasn’t that another thing to panic over, why on Earth would he bring her to his private quarters?) and the King was silent. She bounced between wondering what she had apparently helped his friends with that was so important he wanted to speak to her in his private quarters, and despairing that the first (but apparently not the only) conversation she had had with her father had been in the forge where she worked, and that she had been disrespectful to him. Not even in the familial way she had dreamt of when others spoke of their Adads and the arguments they got into, but disrespectful towards him as a _King_.

 

Finally, after what felt like eons, they reached the King’s quarters. Thorin entered first without a backwards glance towards her, and Flel hesitated. Dwalin moved closer and gently nudged her.

 

“Don’t worry girl, the King is kind. He merely wishes to converse with you, and you’ve done nothing wrong. He’s not too bothered about the titles either, so dunna even worry about messing that up. Aule knows I do.”

 

His eyes were kind, and Flel believed he was telling the truth. Or at least the truth as he saw it. Taking a deep breath, she gathered herself and raised her head high. Better to enter with an air of confidence then one of fear. Never let them see when you’re afraid. Then she walked into the King’s quarters, and promptly lost every bit of confidence she had managed to gather when she saw not just the King, but both princes, the Princess Dís, several members of the company that had reclaimed Erebor... and her Amad sitting in the corner, conversing with the Princess in quiet tones.

 

And just like that, Flel admitted her quiet life was over, a realisation that had been setting in since the moment she realised the King was _staring._  


End file.
